


The Empty Moment

by Manchineel



Category: Original Work
Genre: Depersonalization, Depression, First work - Freeform, Mentioned Pet Death, Non-Binary Main Character, Original work - Freeform, Slice of Life, Warnings May Change, tags will change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26517487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manchineel/pseuds/Manchineel
Summary: As soon as they were able to, Bentley moved away from their Mom’s house and into an apartment several states over. It was quiet, but they were never alone. They had Denim, their cat. However, just after a getting out of college, Bentley came home to a sick Denim. He died at the ripe old age of 15 due to cancer.Now lost and alone, Bentley spends months spiraling into a severe depressive moment. That is, until their therapist and Father convince them to get a new cat.
Kudos: 1





	The Empty Moment

“God, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Bentley sighed. It’s been five months since Denim died, and their once light-dull days had grown gray. They started going to their therapist once a week again, and it became near impossible to do their job.

Bentley sat their phone down on the couch next to them and closed their eyes. They had been playing around with the idea of getting another cat for a few weeks now, and they finally gathered the courage to look for one. Bentley’s father thought the idea was great; they would be able to focus on something besides Denim’s death.

They had the experience and items to take care of a cat, minus the food and litter. But things could go wrong so easily. The cat could need something that Bentley wasn’t able to provide, like a large space or prolonged personal playtime. There was also the potential for her apathy to get in the way of taking care of the pet. But they could always find them a new home, even if it made her sad. 

Taking a deep breath, they picked up their phone and opened Safari, going into Pet Finder’s website. Entering their cities name, Bentley started scrolling through the listings. They hesitated at a blind orange tom-cat.  _No, it can’t be special needs. I don’t know how to take care of that kinda stuff_.

Moving on, Bentley tapped the profile of a small black cat with white ears. The description said that the cat, Bumi, had already gotten the proper vaccines and medicine, and has been neutered.  _ Nice _ , they thought as they scrolled down to the Meet Me section. It said that Bumi had been brought to his foster home as a neonatal kitten, and has spent his entire life as a sweet, socialized kitty.  _ Hm. It wouldn’t hurt to call. _

_ Okay, I just have to say something along the lines of ‘I want to talk about one of your kittens, Bumi’. It won’t be hard.  _ Once Bentley was finished with their internal pep-talk, they tapped the foster home’s phone number and dialed. Bentley bit their nails as they waited for the opposite person to pick up.

_ “ Hello, this is Sam _ _.”_ Taking a deep breath, Bentley began talking. “Hi, I um. Is this the foster parent for a kitten named Bumi? I- I’m calling to ask about the cat?” While it did come out as a question rather than a statement, Bentley thought they did well enough.

_ “ Yea, this is! I’m so glad someone’s finally asking about him, he deserves a forever home, _ _”_ came the reply. _“_ _ I can meet up with you in the parking lot of the Walmart on Pillow Street at 12 on Tuesday if you like? _ _”_ Bentley was off on Tuesdays, and the Walmart Sam was talking about was just a 5 minute drive away.

Once they and Sam exchanged phone numbers and car visuals, the deal was set and the phone hung up. Collapsing onto their couch, Bentley sighed a sign that came from the bottom of her somehow-still-beating heart.  _ That wasn’t too bad, now was it? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! This is my first work, and hopefullly it’s pretty good for that (but I wouldn’t know). The concept for this story originated when I was wishing that I could escape my problems. Over the course of the past few months, it’s developed into its own slice-of-life comfort story.
> 
> Hope y’all enjoy!


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